


ad infinitum

by cedarwoods



Category: Person of Interest (TV)
Genre: 52fics, Alternate Universe, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-11
Updated: 2019-03-11
Packaged: 2019-11-15 08:49:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18070241
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cedarwoods/pseuds/cedarwoods
Summary: Root and Shaw meet through a dating app of sorts in a world that seems determined to keep them apart.Hang the DJ (Black Mirror) AU.





	ad infinitum

**Author's Note:**

> Third time's the charm, I guess? I am going to finish this fic this time if it's the last thing I do.

Shaw climbed up the winding concrete steps, her heels clacking purposefully. The grass, tinged orange by the setting sun, rippled in the evening breeze. It was peaceful here in the countryside, though she couldn’t help but feel slightly out of place, clad as she was in a chic, low-cut black dress.

Fuck dating, to be honest. Fuck dating in the middle of nowhere, in particular. She questioned, not for the first time, how she had gotten roped into the system.

“Coach? I take it this is the place?” she asked, surveying a vast, semi-circular glass building.

 _“Affirmative,”_ said the cool, automated female voice. _“Upon entering, please proceed to the Hub.”_

“Got it.” Shaw stowed the circular device back in her clutch, and, steeling herself, strode through the sliding doors.

She was greeted by the din emanating from the restaurant on the upper floor. A dozen or so couples lounged in the adjacent bar. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see a few heads turning, staring as she walked by.

“Are you even paying attention?” one cross woman snapped.

Shaw snorted. For the couple’s sake, she hoped that they wouldn’t be stuck together too long.

On that note, Shaw hoped that her own matches wouldn’t exceed 72 hours – that enough for up to three fun nights, and then she was done.

Shaw’s current date stood out in the crowd. She rose when the two of them made eye contact. Tall and lithe, she was wearing an electric-blue dress that hugged her frame in just the right ways and showed off her long legs.

Okay. Shaw was interested so far. She bet those legs would feel good draped over her shoulders.

The woman smiled, her lips a deep shade of pink. Shaw catalogued this detail for later too. If things went well, it might end up smeared all over her skin that night.

“So nice to finally meet you. You can call me Root.”

“Sameen Shaw. Usually just go by Shaw.”

They shook hands. Root held onto Shaw’s for a little too long, and her gaze lingered on Shaw’s face as though she was searching for something. Whatever it was, she appeared to have found it after a moment; her doe eyes softened.

“System’s got you down as Samantha Groves,” Shaw said once they’d seated themselves in their booth.

“Oh, I don’t go by that name anymore.” Something about Root’s tone suggested that she did not want to discuss the matter any further. Shaw wondered what the story was there. “I’m good with computers. Picked up Root as a nickname and I’ve stuck with it ever since.”

“Are you a programmer?”

Root tapped her chin. “Something like that,” she said slyly.

A waiter arrived with two platefuls of food and a bottle of red wine.

Shaw glanced at her quizzically. “We didn’t order anything?”

_“Your meals have been pre-selected.”_

“That’s correct,” the waiter added, as she poured wine into their glasses. “We hope you enjoy your evening.” She smiled at them headed towards the kitchen.  

“Apparently I’m a pasta gal,” Root observed.

Shaw cut into her steak, took a careful bite and moaned. It was slathered with the perfect amount of butter and cooked to medium rare, exactly the way she liked it.

Root was watching her fondly. She seemed to find the way Shaw wolfed her food to be endearing rather than off-putting. “Want to try some of mine?”

Shaw acquiesced, and Root fed her a forkful of her penne with Alfredo sauce. “Tha’z pree guh foo,” she said appreciatively.

Root sipped her wine. “I read your file,” she said casually. “And I’m kind of a big fan.”

Shaw froze. She stared hard at Root, who innocently took another bite of her pasta. “How.”

“I _may_ be more of a hacker than a programmer.”

“You hacked _the system_?”

“Yeah,” Root said lightly. “Wouldn’t let me change my name though. That’s hard-coded for some reason.” She pursed her lips.  

Shaw’s mind was racing. Exactly who and what was this woman? “When you say you’re a fan…”

Root delicately set her cutlery down and shuffled along the C-shaped booth to Shaw’s side. She took Shaw’s hand in her own and placed it against her thigh.

Shaw’s breath hitched. “Is that a gun in a thigh holster, or are you just glad to see me?” she murmured.

Root winked – or attempted to. Hilariously, both of her eyes ended up closing, making her look more dorky than sexy. Shaw, however, was too distracted by the feel of Root’s thigh to comment. “Both,” Root whispered.

“Just to be clear then, you’re not here to kill me?”

“Of course not.” Root glanced downward and bit her lip. “There’s a shortage of perfect breasts in this world. It would be a pity to damage yours.”

“ _The Princess Bride_ Root?” Shaw let out a huff of laughter.

“It’s a highly quotable cinematic masterpiece.” Amusement danced in Root’s eyes. “Anyway, my days as an assassin ended a while ago. More of a…vigilante now.”

“Gotta wonder what the system thinks of people like…us.” She had almost said “people like me” – people who were _different_ , who couldn’t feel things “normally.” But she already knew the answer to that.

“The system makes no moral judgements,” Root and their two devices said in unison. “I asked earlier,” Root said with a shrug in response to Shaw’s inquisitive look. “Also saw some parameters in the code. She doesn’t make moral judgements, but she adapts as she stores new information about us.”

“To help us find The One™.” Shaw tamped down the urge to roll her eyes.

“Yeah.” For a brief second, Root had a distant expression on her face, but when Shaw blinked, it had disappeared. “On that note, since we’re both first-timers, I suppose we should probably check our expiry date. It’s under ‘Info’, and it looks like we have to tap at the same time. Count of 3 then?”

Shaw nodded.

“One…two…three…”

“Huh. Fourteen hours,” Shaw noted. Root was a bit of a dork, but she was also hot and apparently good with a gun – two qualities that Shaw greatly admired. Fourteen hours seemed too short.

“And now it’s counting down seconds,” Root added. She frowned. “It’s a bit…sad.”

“I guess we’ll just have to eat dinner faster then and jet,” Shaw said. “What do you think?” 

Root raised her eyebrows, pleasantly surprised. A gleeful smile slowly spread across her face. “We’re going to have so much fun together.”

*

It was dark when they stepped outside. Shaw had to admit that being in the middle of nowhere had its benefits: the summer air smelled sweet and fresh, and the sky was lit by constellations of stars.

“So I pulled a few strings and got a surprise for you,” Root said as she led Shaw out of the Hub and towards a narrow road.

“Was this from bribery, duress or hacking?” Shaw teased. “I’m not picky. I’d be okay with any of them.”

“A girl’s got to keep her secrets.”

A sleek, black Ferrari 458 pulled up beside them. The driver stepped out and handed the keys to Root. “She’s all yours, ladies. Someone will pick her up after your time together has expired and you have vacated your residence.”

“Thank you,” Root said.

“Have a good night.”

When the driver was out of earshot, Root tossed the keys over to Shaw, who snatched them from mid-air with ease.

“Vroom vroom, motherfucker,” Shaw muttered under her breath.

She circled around the car, eyeing it with a heady sense of triumph. She settled into the driver’s seat and gripped the steering wheel. To her delight, she could practically feel it thrumming under her touch, as though it had been waiting for her to arrive. Sticking to just one glass of wine had been a wise move.

She was aware that Root was watching her from the passenger’s side with that same doting expression she’d had while Shaw was eating. Far from making her queasy though, Root’s gaze made her feel strangely appreciated.

She had no idea what to deduce from that.

“Pretty sweet ride,” Shaw said as she revved the engine. “You chose well.”

“I could ride you all night long.”

“Come again?”

“I said, I could ride with you all night long,” Root said, batting her eyelashes.

“Where to?” Shaw asked instead.

“She’ll tell us where to go. Adventure awaits!” Root said in a lilting voice.

“You are such a nerd.”

Shaw had been expecting Root to chatter incessantly throughout the drive, but she seemed content to sit quietly, enjoying the play of the wind in her hair. Snatches of warm glow from the streetlights would strike her on occasion, illuminating half of her face while the other half remained shrouded in shadows. Although she glanced at the surrounding trees, interspersed by the odd bungalow, she mostly kept her eyes fixated on Shaw, examining her side profile, the tendons in her neck, the muscles on her arms.

“See something you like?”

“You got a great shape,” Root said. “I’m thinking about what I’m going to do with you when we get to our cozy little lovebirds’ nest.”

Shaw grimace. “Ugh. Don’t call it that.”

“Our shag shack.”

“No.”

“Oh come on, that was pretty good!”

“It really wasn’t. Bit of a tongue-twister too.”

“Fine. Our getaway spot then.”

“Alright, that’s not too—”   

 “G-spot for short.” Root wink-blinked again.

Shaw guffawed. “ _Root_. Oh my fucking god.”

“That’s what you’ll be screaming all night.” Root threw her head back and laughed. She seemed to enjoy poking and prodding at Shaw, just to see how the latter would react.

Once the laughter subsided, they fell into a comfortable silence again.

“Must’ve been rough for people before the system. Having to find someone they’d want to spend the rest of their lives with. Like looking for a needle in a haystack,” Shaw said after a while.

“Are you hoping the system finds you your soulmate?”

“Me? Nah. Relationships are for amateurs. I’m mostly just in it for short flings. But for everyone else, at least there won’t be any emotional breakups and other nonsense. The system just chooses for them. No muss, no fuss.”

“I wonder though,” Root mused, “to what extent the system takes free will into consideration.”

Shaw did not know how to answer.

*

“Here we are,” Root said, gesturing flamboyantly at the bungalow. “Do you want to open it or should I?”

“I wanna touch it,” Shaw declared. She stepped forward to place her hand against the biometric palm scanner.

Root leaned against the brick wall. “’I want to touch it’ soon to be the title of our sex tape,” she said playfully.

“I think we’re going to need to find other uses for your mouth soon, besides talking.”

Root grinned mischievously and allowed Shaw to drag her in by the elbow. “I might have a few ideas.”  

Shaw nodded approvingly as the two of them entered. “Nice digs.” Bright blue and zebra-patterned throw pillows added pops of colour to the slate grey sofas. The space looked cozy and inviting.

Root, however, wasted no time in kicking off her heels at the entrance and padding to the bedroom with Shaw in tow. “Let’s see…beautiful, spacious ensuite with a shower _and_ bathtub…” Root said as she slid aside the floor-to-ceiling door and peered into the bathroom, “king-sized bed for vigorous physical activity, and…” She opened the drawer of her bedside table. “...Hood and zipties. You game?”

Shaw shoved Root against the wall. Experimentally, she squeezed Root’s neck and was pleased to see her pupils dilating as her mouth fell open. Root held onto Shaw’s wrist, pleading for more. “The only real question here, Root,” Shaw whispered against Root’s lips, “is how much you care about this dress.”

“A lot, actually,” Root said regretfully. She eased Shaw’s hand off her neck and pulled her into a passionate kiss. “You’re going to have to take it off slowly.”

Shaw kissed her back, harder this time. As she pushed her tongue into Root’s mouth, she used Root’s temporary distraction to reach under her dress, and pull it over her head. She buried her head against Root’s breasts, lifted her, then fluidly spun and tossed her onto the bed.

*

They lay side by side much later. In the dim lamplight, the sheen of sweat was visible on their heaving chests.

“Alright,” Shaw said abruptly once she’d caught her breath. “I’m taking the bed. You can sleep on the couch. Gonna have to curl up your giraffe legs into a tiny ball though.”

“Hmm, you weren’t complaining about my legs when you spent extra time kissing them. And here I thought we could bask in the afterglow of sex and maybe spoon each other.” Root sighed exaggeratedly and pouted.

“Oh you haven’t heard?” Shaw grumbled. “Spooning is out. Spatulaing is in. You just get beside your partner—” Shaw sidled closer and slid her legs under Root’s “- and launch her out of b—”

She gasped sharply as Root instead rolled onto her, then flipped them over and catapulted Shaw onto the floor, giggling madly.

“Okay, what the literal fu— oomf!”

Shaw was again silenced, this time by a pillow to the face. Snarling, she clambered back onto the bed and hovered over the culprit, whose eyes glittered mischievously.  “I will _end_ you.”

Root wrapped her arms around Shaw’s neck and tugged her closer. “You can end me all you want,” she crooned.

They stared at each other for a beat, each silently daring the other to make the first move.

Root tapped Shaw’s nose. “Think we’re on a bit of a clock, sweetie. Coach, how much time do we have left?”

_“There are ten hours remaining.”_

“Ten-hour bangathon? Sounds good to me.”

Root quirked an eyebrow. “Think you can last that long?”

“Fuck you.”

“That’s just what I intend to do,” Root chirped. With that, she lunged at Shaw’s neck, nibbling gently at it first, before sinking her teeth in harder. She purred delightedly at Shaw’s ensuing groan and lapped at the bite marks.

Root squeezed Shaw’s ass and tried to push her forward. Shaw understood the message and inched up Root’s body until her legs were on either side of Root’s face. She grasped the headboard for support as Root ensnared Shaw’s waist in her arms and emphatically tugged her closer. Shaw closed her eyes and submitted herself entirely to Root once again. 


End file.
